The invention relates to a process for breaking an unbroken brake disk of a disk brake in the mounted condition, to a process for exchanging a brake disk of a disk brake in the unbroken condition as well as to a breaking device for breaking an unbroken brake disk.
Nowadays, disk brakes are increasingly used particularly in the utility vehicle field, in which it is important to provide brakes for the highest loads. In the case of disk brakes, during a braking, an application force is transmitted by the lining carrier to the brake lining material fastened thereon. From the application force, the braking force is obtained between the lining material or brake lining and the brake disk. Concerning the different constructions of disk brakes, reference is made to the following literature:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Buschmann, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Koessler "Manual of Automotive Engineering", Munchen 1976, Pages 844-847;
P. Gerigk, D. Bruhn, D. Danner, L. Endruschat, J. Gobert, H. Gross, D. Komoll "Automotive Engineering", Braunschweig 1994, Pages 425-427;
German Patent Application DE 42 30 005;
Repair Guideline RA-SB 0002, "Pneumatic Disk Brake SB6 . . . /SB7 . . . (Standard and Radial Brake)" Knorr Bremse, System fur Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH, 6, 1997.
The whole disclosure content of all these documents according to the prior art is incorporated herein by reference.
In addition to the brake linings, the brake disks are naturally also subjected to a certain wear, for example, as the result of abrasion or temperature fluctuations which may result in cracks in the brake disk. If such a wear is determined or the wear limit is reached, the brake disks must be exchanged.
If the brake disk is constructed in one piece as an unbroken disk, an exchange of such a disk, particularly in the case of a utility vehicle, requires high-cost dismounting work. For example, the complete hub must often be disassembled at high cost in order to be able to exchange the worn-out brake disk.
On the other hand, it is more expensive to originally equip utility vehicles with broken, that is, multipart brake disks.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a process and system by which the above-described disadvantages of the prior art can be overcome.
According to the invention, this problem is solved in that a process for breaking an unbroken brake disk of a disk brake in the mounted condition is provided which has the following steps:
a breaking device is set on the brake disk, PA1 by a pressure device, a force is applied on the breaking device, specifically such that PA1 a transverse force or a bending moment is introduced into the brake disk which results in the breaking of the brake disk preferably with radially extending fracturing surfaces.
In a first embodiment of the process according to the invention, it is provided to construct the breaking device as a separate tool. This separate tool, away from the caliper of the disk brake, is set onto the brake disk itself.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment, it is provided that the breaking device comprises at least two breaking irons, the outer contour of the breaking irons being similar to brake linings so that they can be inserted into the lining shaft of the disk brake, preferably instead of the brake linings. In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the transverse forces according to the process of the invention are introduced directly by the brake pistons of the disk brake. In this case, the brake piston of the disk brake is advantageously operated pneumatically or hydraulically by the foot brake of the vehicle.
The above-described process concerning the breaking of an unbroken brake disk of a disk brake is preferably used when a brake disk of a disk brake is to be exchanged in the mounted condition. According to the invention, a process for exchanging a brake disk in the mounted condition is characterized in that the brake disk is first broken according to one of the above-mentioned processes by a breaking device, radially extending fracturing surfaces being formed in the process. The fragments of the brake disk resulting from the breakage are subsequently taken out of the caliper in the radial direction, a dismounting of axle parts or brake parts not being required.
After the old brake disk is removed in this manner from the brake system, a new multipart brake disk is installed. The multipart brake disk is composed of at least two ring-shaped pieces which are connected with one another, for example, by a bolt-type connection. Naturally, other types of connections are also conceivable in this context.
In addition to the above-mentioned breaking process and the above-mentioned process for exchanging a brake disk in the mounted condition, the invention also provides a breaking device for breaking an unbroken brake disk. According to the invention, this breaking device comprises breaking or cutting irons which can be set onto the brake disk. It is particularly preferable for the breaking or cutting irons to have an outer contour similar to brake linings. In such an embodiment, the breaking or cutting irons can be inserted into the lining shaft instead of the brake linings or together with these. The correspondingly shaped breaking or cutting irons are situated opposite one another in the lining shafts of the disk brakes and have breaking webs which are offset with respect to one another in the circumferential direction. In a special embodiment, it is provided that one of the cutting irons has breaking webs in the proximity of the two exterior ends of the breaking or cutting iron, whereas the other breaking iron, which is situated opposite the above-mentioned breaking iron, has a single breaking web which is arranged in the center. As the result of this type of an arrangement of the breaking webs on the breaking or cutting irons, it is possible to introduce, by the brake pistons of the disk brake, by the breaking or cutting irons inserted in the brake, high transverse forces or a high bending moment in the brake disk so that, as a result, a breakage of the brake disk is achieved which has fracturing surfaces extending essentially in the radial direction.